Evidently, Juju had thought things through. Since it had made a pact with He Lingchuan and had no choice but to attack the Heavenly Palace, it might as well go all the way, displaying its supreme might to the fullest so they would learn reverence!
In this world, might was always right.
Only when the Heavenly Palace finally sought reconciliation would their attitude toward it be more respectful and their offerings far more sincere.
It glanced into Zhaixing Tower in passing and suddenly sensed something amiss.
Huh? Why was the Splendid Picture of Mountains and Rivers on the shrine still glowing?
With the formation core shattered and the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation disabled, that painting ought to have reverted to a blank void.
It was once one of the supreme treasures of the Dahuan Sect, and Juju knew a thing or two about it.
Chief Duyun Emissary could no longer use that artifact to suppress it, yet he was still fussing and prodding over the scroll, up to who knew what trick.
The rock-fire monster felt an ominous premonition and brought its fists down even harder against Tianshu Peak.
Every second counted!
As long as it smashed Zhaixing Tower down into the magma pool, it wouldn't matter if the celestial gods had a hundred hidden backups—none of them would avail.
Yet Tianshu Peak had been reshaped with its own help back then, and Juju had personally reinforced it, ensuring solid, trustworthy quality. Now that it wanted to snap the mountain, how could it be so easy?
"Produced by Juju, guaranteed premium quality"—even wrecking its own handiwork proved exhausting.
Right then, Chief Duyun Emissary seemed to draw something out from the scroll.
What was that?
Juju's eyes went wide.
Another glazed sphere, another star ring, and hanging over Kaiyang Peak... this-this-this was...
Another formation core!
Motherfucker! These gods and humans had more sneaky schemes than holes in Fengchao Mountain!
They actually had a spare formation core?!
"Go!" With a sweep of its claws, endless fire monsters surged out from the magma pool, miniature versions of itself, each standing only about a zhang tall.
They threw themselves straight at the guards of the Garrison Palace.
Juju itself took a deep dive into the bottom of the magma pool and vanished.
Leaving its clones behind to continue assailing Zhaixing Tower, it hurried off toward Kaiyang Peak.
Bai Ziqi let out a long breath, rushed back to the shrine, and suddenly pointed at the scroll. "The intruders and the spider demon haven't left the old formation core!"
***
To the north, Mount Xu was lit by soaring flames, and Lingxu City shuddered violently.
Even the heaviest sleepers were jolted awake.
Tu Yangzhi and the others stood at Chunhe Fabric Store, gazing at the volcanic eruption on Tianshu Peak.
The northern sky was dyed blood-red.
"The signal has come." Tu Yangzhi could hardly conceal his excitement. "Today, we die for the cause without fear!"
The others chorused in unison, "To die for the cause is our true desire!"
"Everyone, commence the operation!"
Barely half a quarter of an hour later, the government office, the prison, and the warehouses adjacent to Chunhe Fabric Store were blasted high into the sky amid deafening roars!
The residence of the Nancheng County magistrate was barely a hundred-odd zhang from Chunhe Fabric Store. The magistrate and his wife bolted upright in terror, only to see their bedroom door kicked open as three or four masked men barged in.
"Who are you? What are you doing!" Before the magistrate could finish his shout, they swarmed him, hacking him into mincemeat.
The upheaval in Nancheng County was only the beginning. Soon, violent explosions rapidly engulfed the entire main urban district of Lower Lingxu. Key facilities erupted in raging infernos everywhere, and key grassroots officials were missing or assassinated across the board.
Shortly after, rumbling blasts echoed from the Floating Isle as well. Seven or eight powerful dignitaries and high-ranking demons found their estates ablaze or their families struck dead without warning.
Everywhere was smoke and thunder, everywhere were screaming residents, and everywhere were scrambling soldiers.
Mount Xu to the north and Lingxu City to the south were plunged into utter chaos at the exact same time.
For a moment, countless souls were left bewildered and at a loss, having no idea what had happened.
By this point, Fang Canran had already departed Lingxu City, standing on a mountain peak to the west and overlooking the lower city, the blazing firelight reflected in his eyes.
"Not enough. Nowhere near enough!"
Of the suffering the celestial gods and Lingxu had inflicted upon the world, not even one-millionth had been repaid yet!
The great parrot Lingbo dropped down from the night sky, alighting upon his shoulder. "Phase one has been executed smoothly. When does phase two begin?"
"Wait," Fang Canran said decisively. "Wait for He Xiao's signal. Some of our people should have begun their withdrawal, right? The Demon Emperor will lock down the entire city soon."
"Yes, they will slip away from Lingxu with the terrified crowds." Lingbo cocked its head to preen its wings. "The chaos in Lingxu City won't interfere with He Xiao's actions, will it? After all, we didn't tell him."
"It will. It will take pressure off him." Fang Canran smiled faintly. "No need to tell him."
Every single person in Lingxu City deserved to die!
He would make this imperial capital, peaceful for six hundred years, remember this sleepless night forever!
***
He Lingchuan had originally wanted to climb onto the giant spider's back. But Zhu Erniang's demon immortal shed husk was like a small hill, its surface bristling with spike-like hairs that drew blood on contact and carried venom; clambering up would be like treading a mountain of blades, requiring painstaking caution with every step.
Zhu Erniang suddenly dipped her head close to the ground. Directly in front of the giant spider's forehead was a small hollow, smooth and hairless. Catching the hint, He Lingchuan leaped right in.
Fierce gales whipped through the air. He Lingchuan sighed. "Trouble's coming."
"Hmm?" Weren't they waiting here for trouble anyway?
He Lingchuan gave a bitter smile, wishing he had guessed wrong. "I'm afraid there's more than one formation core."
"Just smash it to pieces, right?"
"...Right." Now back in her demon immortal body, Erniang spoke with plenty of confidence. He Lingchuan raised his hand and fired two fine-iron crossbow bolts straight ahead, in the direction the howling wind was blowing from.
The bolt heads were dusted with Wind-Fixing Pearl powder, granting them immunity to the gale.
*Thud.* The bolts struck something with a dull knock, but failed to bite in.
Sure enough, an invisible object was right in front of them; it was no trick of the imagination.
Just then, more than a dozen massive fireballs suddenly soared up from below, slamming squarely into the invisible entity and exploding into a sky-filling display of pyrotechnics.
This time, the fireballs struck solid.
Startled, He Lingchuan looked down. Juju had actually reappeared atop Kaiyang Peak!
"What did you run back here for?!" He Lingchuan yelled at the fire golem clone on his shoulder. "Didn't we agree? Your job is to wreck Zhaixing Tower!"
During their planning sessions over the past few days, he had mentioned more than once that the Heavenly Palace might have a backup prepared, and they had drawn up contingencies.
Yet Juju had completely abandoned the plan!
What a useless teammate.
The Spirit Gathering Grand Formation was right under the Heavenly Palace's rear. It gathered spiritual energy for all of Lingxu City and also bore the duty of keeping Juju suppressed. How could they allow any oversight?
No matter how thoroughly guarded a single formation core was, perfection could never be guaranteed.
The safest recourse was to build a spare!
Furthermore, the Heavenly Palace knew full well that the standard running formation core was flawed, unable to slip into the void during winter. That left it vulnerable to being discovered by enemies or Juju.
How could they possibly leave that unaddressed?
Although Zaifu Kua, Junior Director of the Directorate for Palace Buildings, knew nothing of any contingency, He Lingchuan had suspected that, with the Heavenly Palace's capabilities, they were bound to have a second trick up their sleeve.
Zaifu Kua had said the core's flaw was an underlying issue of the grand formation that could not be repaired. Therefore, this backup measure was likely an emergency stopgap, not for standard use.
Yet so long as the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation could be brought back online, it could suppress Juju once more. Even if it held for only an hour, that would give the Heavenly Palace ample time to regroup.
And that would be the death of He Lingchuan.
What they lacked most right now was time.
He Lingchuan blinked, suddenly realizing their side had plunged into mortal danger once again.
Taking down the formation core with so much effort turned out to be only the opening move.
"There's another formation core here!" Juju rumbled, frantic with urgency. "I'll help you bring it down!"
Who was helping whom?
Forget it. Since it was here, they might as well concentrate their firepower.
Moreover, He Lingchuan noticed that although the new formation core had appeared, the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation had not resumed operation yet.
This was likely because the new core still required calibration, or had yet to move into its precise alignment.
After all, the grand formation on the ground was a mirror reflection of the stars in the heavens. Among the ten stars of the Northern Dipper, not a single position could be out of place.
They had to seize this precious sliver of time.
Juju's barrage of fireballs was truly terrifying—unleashing over a dozen in the span of two breaths, and every single one hit the mark.
Such a bombardment was no easy thing to withstand. With Juju's power, the fierce winds had little hope of deflecting the fireballs; besides, the core was quite large, so even a slight deflection would still land a blow.
Drawing strength from the earth's core, Juju barely needed to rest before launching the next volley. The monster clearly understood that if the formation core resumed full operation, tonight would end in its total defeat!
He Lingchuan could feel the vibrations echoing through the sky and was overjoyed.
"Good hits! Put your back into it!"
The little fire golem on his shoulder glanced sideways. "Didn't you say I should stay at Zhaixing Tower?"
"You *should* have stayed at Zhaixing Tower." This mountain spirit was remarkably petty. He Lingchuan stuffed the Wind-Fixing Pearl into Zhu Erniang's mouth. "Hold this, we charge! — But the formation core shaking so violently means it's having trouble taking the hits. After all, this thing hasn't connected to the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation yet; it can't draw spiritual energy from the earth's core to replenish itself!"
The outer boundary of the original formation core could not be breached because Juju was forbidden from attacking Mount Xu's structures, and because it was tightly linked to the grand formation, continuously siphoning spiritual energy from hundreds of li around.
The new core had yet to link up, possessing limited reserves; how could it hold up against Juju's furious barrage?
Yet this window of opportunity was exceedingly precious. Once it closed, Juju wouldn't be able to touch it again.
With the Wind-Fixing Pearl clutched in her mouth, Zhu Erniang leaped across several zhang.
The howling winds surrounding the core had no effect on her, and she landed squarely onto the new formation core.
By all rights, the outermost restrictions of the core were lethal, reducing wood, stone, or living flesh to powder upon contact.
Yet a rippling layer of dark light radiated across Zhu Erniang's body. Drawing her eight legs inward, she plunged them like needles straight into the restriction!
Huddled before her brow, He Lingchuan could even feel the violent clash between the formation's restriction and her protective astral qi.
It was like a live fish splashing into a boiling vat of oil, sparks crackling and bursting everywhere. Only here, arcs of electricity sprayed with unmatched ferocity, blazing so brightly they could be seen clearly even from the distant Heavenly Palace.
He Lingchuan let out a breath of relief. This time, the outer restriction was made of lightning and electric arcs, likely harnessing the power of heaven and earth to achieve such sheer might.
Chapter 689